How to place wine glasses on the table
A brief note on wine glass etiquette. How to place them on the table and when to remove the glassware apt for appreciating the Bacchus’s delicacies
How to place wine glasses on the table
by Donatella Cinelli Colombini
The rules are few and simple: wine glassware is positioned from right to left. The wine glass for the entree is the first on the right and the one for dessert is last on the left. Better to use glasses without a stem for water so as to make it easier to identify.
BEST USE A TUMBLER FOR WATER AND STEMMED GLASSWARE FOR ALL WINES
A while back the water glass was the largest but with the arrival of noticeably larger wine glasses it has been necessary to find a practical alternative so as to not occupy too much space on the table. Those used to the old etiquette, however, often pour water into the large wine glasses for red wines and then feel terribly embarrassed. The new wine glasses are in fact much more bulky than the “old style” ones but also much easier to wash. I can remember the nightmare of washing the etched and engraved crystal glassware around 50 years ago, that would chip at the slightest contact, and would cut the hands of those washing them like razors. They were so impractical to remain nearly always shut in cabinets and so they would get passed on from generation to generation, clutter that nobody knew what to do with.
Wine glasses on the table at the restaurant
ENOUGH OF THIS REVERENTIAL FEAR OF CRYSTAL GLASSES, THEY ARE INDISPENSABLE TO TASTE WINE
The prices of crystal wine glass have been reduced a lot and at present it is possible to buy “singing crystal” at less than four euro each glass. So now there is a much less reverential rapport towards crystal ware and laying the table has lost the magical charm, like a religious rite, it had long ago.
I like to put all the glasses on the table before my guests sit down but this forces me to limit it to four-five glasses per person so we taste only four or five wines. This is not a bad thing, meals with endless wine tastings, like long ago, and are considered inappropriate in the health logic of the new millennium. To avoid abuse and increasing the tastings one should use a wine spittoon but these must absolutely be avoided at the table.